1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dough moulder.
In particular, the invention relates to a dough moulder which is particularly suitable for, but not limited to, moulding dough of different volumes/weights to suit a range of bread and/or breadstick sizes.
2. Prior Art
Bread moulders are conventionally used to receive a piece of pre-weighed dough and mould it to a desired shape for a specific bakery product, before the dough is “proved” and then baked.
Small retail bakeries, or the bakery departments in supermarkets, may wish to produce a range of bread loaf sizes, together with stick-products, which are sold to the public.
Conventional dough moulders are not readily adjustable to enable moulding of the different dough piece sizes. For an example, a moulder manufactured by “Mono” (Trade Mark), which is arranged to be able to mould the dough for three different loaf sizes, has respective moulding sections for each loaf size, and gate means operable to selectively direct the dough pieces to the appropriate moulding section. A separate dough moulder is required to mould the dough for stick-type bakery products e.g., French sticks.
While it is known to have adjustable side plates on the inlet mouth to the moulding rollers to accommodate different size dough pieces, there is a tendency for pieces of the dough to form “strips” at the ends of the moulded dough pieces which result in an unattractive appearance.